The train had begun to move again. He hoped that Erza and the others had the sense to continue the mission without him, because Naruto didn't want to be a burden. Besides this was a personal matter. He crouched behind a seat as the person continued along the train. No sense in revealing himself until he was certain. The man continued to move along the aisle until he stopped at the place where Naruto and the others were seated.
The man stood in front of a sleeping Natsu. Naruto slapped himself mentally. How could he have forgotten?
"Well if it isn't a Fairytail wizard." The man said. Natsu had awoken at the sound of the voice.
"Who are you?" Natsu asked groggily. Then the man planted his boot in Natsu's face. Naruto clenched his fists to keep himself from shouting out in protest. Instinct told him to be quiet and move when the opportunity presented itself. He hated it but he kept silent.
"You Fairytail flies have no business here." The man stated. Natsu glared at him from under his boot. He then placed both hands on the man's shoes and shoved him backwards. Miraculously, Natsu stood to face the man. His fist caught fire.
"Listen, I don't know who you are," Natsu began. "But nobody talks trash about Fairytail, especially in front of me!"
Natsu took a step forward but stopped hesitantly. The fire from his hand extinguished. He frowned and kept his mouth shut. Naruto could see that he was still dealing with his motion sickness. The man just laughed at him.
"Was that it?" He questioned. "Well then let me show you what a real wizard of Eisenwald is like!"
He stretched out his hand and a magic circle appeared. His shadow began to move towards Natsu, that's when Naruto saw his chance. He leaped from his hiding place and moved with amazing speed, grabbing Natsu and pulling him out of the way before the attack landed. The shadow mage was surprised to se that his attack missed. Now Naruto stood between him and Natsu.
"Naruto, when did you get here?" Natsu asked a bit surprised.
"Tell you later." Naruto's replied.
"What's this, another one?" the mage asked. "Well isn't this my lucky day, two for one."
Natsu made a move to charge at the mage but Naruto held out an arm to stop him. His eyes were telling Natsu to wait.
"What's you name?" Naruto inquired, catching the mage of guard.
"Kageyama," He said a bit unsure and startled by the question. Naruto tried to search his brain for a sense of familiarity to the name, but nothing struck him. Still, Naruto wasn't through yet. He needed to know more.
"Do you recognize me?" He asked, a bit uncertain. Kageyama was surprised by the question.
"No, I've never seen you before." Kageyama said.
Naruto couldn't help but feeling disappointed. He thought he found a connection to his past, but he was wrong. This man was not someone he knew. Then, Naruto remembered something and he grew angry.
"You're from Eisenwald." Naruto growled. Kageyama regained his confident smile. "That's right, and now you flies are going to get what you deserve."
He raised his hand to attack but then the train came to a sudden halt, throwing him off balance. Natsu was lucky enough to steady himself on the passenger's seat. Naruto on the other hand stood firmly in place and didn't budge the slightest when the train halted. Naruto felt a large build up of his energy concentrated on his feet. He realized that the energy was holding him in place.
Kageyama stumbled and something fell from his jacket. It rolled in front of Naruto. It was some kind of flute with the head of a skull with three eyes. Kageyama grimaced as Naruto saw it. Naruto was about to pick it up when Natsu shouted: "All right, it's payback time!" He drew a deep breath.
"No, wait!" Naruto tried to stop him but it was too late. Natsu released his breath and came out as a roar of fire. Naruto raised both arms to protect himself as the train exploded.
Naruto coughed as the smoke and debris started to clear. Kageyama had been burned and bruised but otherwise fine. Natsu just stood there completely unaffected by the explosion. Naruto was amazed by his display of power. He also felt irritation because if he hadn't gone and blown up the whole train he could have questioned Kageyama more or at least gotten his hands on the strange looking flute. Who knows where it could be under all this destroyed parts.
"Lucky shot." Kageyama mumbled. He slowly got back on his feet. The train suddenly lurched forward and began to gradually gain speed. Natsu covered his mouth to prevent himself from vomiting as motion sickness overcame him. They weren't going to get anywhere like this, Naruto can't fight if Natsu will get in the way. They needed to fall back.
As Kageyama prepared to attack, Naruto reached into his pouch and detonated a smoke bomb. Naruto took advantage of the temporary concealment and moved fast. He grabbed Natsu and ran towards the destroyed part of the train with a huge portion missing. I'm an idiot, Naruto thought, and together he and Natsu jumped out of the train.
As the smoke cleared, Kageyama found himself standing alone. He looked left and right but couldn't find his adversaries. He shook his head, thinking that they probably jumped as he inspected the destroyed train. Unbeknownst to him though was that the original Naruto had transformed into a suitcase under one of the chairs.
Meanwhile the other Naruto and Natsu crashed into Erza and the others the moment they jumped. Literally, Erza drove some sort of vehicle that ran alongside the train. They stopped as soon as they saw the two boys flying toward them. Naruto was thankful for his fast reflexes because he wouldn't have caught the top part of the vehicle and he would've tumbled into the ground. He had a firm hold of Natsu who was as limp as a rag doll until they stopped.
"What happened?" Erza questioned as soon as they were gathered around the strange car. Natsu recounted the events that had transpired on the train. How Naruto showed up and when they jumped out.
"So they were on the same train as us." Erza said after Natsu finished. Unexpectedly, Erza brought her fist down on his head. "You fool, why did you let him get away? That was part of our mission!"
"What? It's the first time I heard about this." Natsu said rubbing the part where Erza hit him.
"She already forgot she knocked him out on the train." Naruto heard Lucy murmur. Erza continued to scold Natsu when Naruto stepped in. He couldn't let Natsu take all the blame. "It's my fault he got away."
The group turned to look at him. "What do you mean?" Gray asked.
Naruto looked away. "I thought I recognized him, from my past."
The others looked confused while Erza understood. She placed her hand on his shoulder. "Did you find anything helpful?"
Naruto just shook his head. Gray on the other hand began to grow suspicious. "Hang on, why would you recognize someone from a dark guild, you old friends or something?"
The very suggestion that he was from a dark guild made Naruto's gut twist in anger and disgust, but a small part of his mind said: What if he's right? He didn't know anything from his past. So it could be possible that he was from a dark guild, but the thought seemed so wrong to Naruto. He would never join those monsters. It went against every fiber and instinct of his existence.
"It's not like that Gray." Erza said. She began to explain how she met Naruto on a job and how he has no memory of his past. Understanding dawned on their faces.
"So you were lying when you said you were just Erza's luggage carrier?" Lucy ventured.
Naruto smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. Figured the less you know the better."
"So you're actually a wizard?" Happy asked.
"Well I wouldn't say that, but I'm pretty darn close." Naruto said.
"We're wasting time!" Erza interrupted. "We need to catch up to that train."
Naruto grinned mischievously. "No need to worry about that. I'm just a clone, the real me is on the train as we speak."
Natsu, Lucy and Gray's mouths dropped. Erza knowing that he could make clones the first time they met was not surprised.
"We don't have a moment to lose then." Erza said. Everyone climbed back into the vehicle. As Erza strapped on the device that drains her magic to turn into fuel she noticed Naruto still standing there. "Come on Naruto, we have to catch up to them."
He just smiled at her. "I'm just a clone, remember. Don't worry I'll meet you at the next station."
The clone dispersed in a puff of smoke.